USCIS Lists Foreign Countries and Geographic Entities Having No Available Child Abuse Registries

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminds customers preparing paperwork for adoptions from Hague Convention countries of the need to check available child abuse registries for potential adoptive parents and other adult household members who have lived in foreign countries. This is a reporting requirement for the home study which must be attached to the Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country.

USCIS, in cooperation with the Department of State, has developed a list of countries and geographic entities confirmed to have no child abuse registry information available. This list contains the most recent information currently available to USCIS, and is subject to change. If a home study preparer finds that a country on this list has established an appropriate registry, he or she must address that information in the home study.

Afghanistan

El Salvador

Korea, North

Sao Tome and Principe

Andorra

Eritrea

Korea, South

Saudi Arabia

Argentina

Estonia

Kosovo

Senegal

Armenia

Ethiopia

Latvia

Seychelles

Australia

Fiji

Liberia

Sierra Leone

Austria

Finland

Luxembouge

Slovakia

Bahamas

France

Macedonia

Somalia

Bangladesh

Gabon

Malaysia

South Africa

Belgium

Georgia

Mauritius

Spain

Belize

Germany

Micronesia, Federated States

Sri Lanka

Benin

Ghana

Moldova

Sudan

Bermuda

Greece

Mongolia

Sweden

Bolivia

Guatemala

Montenegro

Switzerland

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Guyana

Morocco

Syria

Brazil

Haiti

Nauru

Tajikistan

Burundi

Hong Kong S.A.R.

Netherlands

Togo

Cambodia

Hungary

Nicaragua

Tonga

Chad

Iceland

Nigeria

Turkey

Chile

India

Oman

Tuvalu

China

Indonesia

Palua

Uganda

Colombia

Iran

Panama

Ukraine

Costa Rica

Iraq

Papua New Guinea

United Kingdom

Croatia

Israel

Paraguay

Uruguay

Cyprus

Italy

Peru

Uzbekistan

Denmark

Jamaica

Philippines

Venezuela

Djibouti

Japan

Poland

Vietnam

Dominican Republic

Kenya

Romania

Yemen

Ecuador

Kiribati

Russia

Zambia

For more information, contact USCIS' National Benefits Center, 1-877-424-8374; or e-mail nbc.hague@dhs.gov.